"It's a big box that gets pulled up and down at the end of a rope."  Zorden commented somewhat idly on the conversation regarding dumb waiters as he continued to study the panel and tubes.

"When you're rich, you have slaves to carry things up and down your stairs.  When you have even more money, you have two slaves, one upstairs to put the things in the box and one down to pull them out, and the dumb waiter contraption is crafted and built into your home as a demonstration of your wealth.  I guess this is like that, only bigger, and operating like most everything else in this place, by knowledge mainly horded by the rich and powerful, like the Technic League, to make themselves even more rich at the expense of everyone they can get under their boots."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:40, Wed 22 May.

"Bah, what a waste.  It is better to traverse and gain strength so you can crush your enemies."  Kelaria complained, but reconsidered.  "Though such a thing could be useful in battle."

Her fertile mind began to imagine all the projectiles and supplies she could get up to the high ground with such a device.

"How much can this box weigh?  Why not tie a rope around it and hoist it out of the way?"

It takes only a cursory look at the sparking coils to get a good idea of the nature of the sparking, at least. Where one of the coils once connected to a socket in the side of the panel, the coupling has been warped and the coil will no longer attach. Significant enough power courses through the coil that it occasionally leaps to any nearby metal surface. Even though the coupling is made of Numerian steel, it shouldn't be too much trouble for a smith of Torch with access to a full foundry to bend it back into shape--though removing the coupling from its coil would require some skill or strength to free it and careful timing to avoid getting shocked.

Examining the makeup of this 'elevator' more closely, it is clear by stomping that the ground beneath the room is solid--if there were rooms below they have been replaced by packed rubble and stone since the makers abandoned the place. However prodding of the ceiling reveals a very slight echo. There are no access hatches or seams in the Numerian steel of the ceiling to be exploited, even along the light-emitting panels, so forcing through would require an impossible feat of strength or tools made to bypass the strength of Numerian steel.

"I think the broken bit here can be removed, but we'd likely need to take it back to the temple or councilor Baine to have it fixed."  Zorden commented.

ooc: what sort of effort/roll would it take to remove the coupling?

Also, is the arrangement as such that the coil and socket might be temporarily held together with a set of Grippers?

Ignoring the maelstrom of suggestions, hurt feelings, and socioeconomic commentary, Morin went to examine the coupling. "That looks like it might actually be it." He agreed hopefully.  "And bringing it back to get banged back into shape is definitely an option.  OR I could just do it here, using THE POWER OF MAGIC!"

Striking a dramatic pose, Morin raised his hands in the air and began chanting an elaborate invocation to repair the damaged electrical plug and return it to it's original shape.  And then he continued chanting the invocation.  And after a bit, he kept right on chanting it.  The spell did take ten minutes to cast, after all.

OOC: Returning a bent bit of metal to it's original shape seems like a textbook application of the mending cantrip.  It only repairs 1d4 damage per ten minutes, but that's probably quicker than walking all the way back to town.  Plus, we won't have to get Cain electrocuted again!
This message was last edited by the player at 02:17, Fri 24 May.

As Morin cast his spell, and then it quickly became clear that this was going to be another ice spell and mold situation, Zorden suggested.  "We could to check that other room while Morin fixes this."

"Will it take so long as that?"  Kelaria asked.  She wasn't adverse to her fellows making the attempt, but in her concept of magic, magic worked pretty quickly.  She normally had disdain for magic because it kept its users from developing skills, agility, endurance and strength, or even mental acuities like herbalism or tracking, and the gods took it away with the seasons and on a whim leaving the users helpless with out.  But this situation and place were strange enough she had to admit maybe this one one time and place magic should be seen differently.  "What manner of smithery is all this?"

She was really starting to wonder about that.  Kelaria was no stranger to a forge (and had to begrudgingly admit the kind they dug out temporarily wasn't nearly as good as the stationery ones in the city), but she had no idea how much of this was made.  Dwarves perhaps?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Fri 24 May.

With a shrug, Zorden walked over and locked open the door on the "east" side of the elevator.

He then walked over to take a look at the next door on the "south" side of the hallway to see if it was locked or not.

Ionaya stood silent, still looking thoughtful, as she seemed to consider Zorden's words. Then after Morin started using his magic to 'fix' the elevator, and it became quite clear that even with magic the process was going to take some time, she turned to address Kelaria's question, "It is not the type of magic I use or even any you might have seen before. Nonetheless, it is the use of gathered knowledge of thousands of different types, some even from different worlds, used to create tools both simple and complex to do things. At least, that's how I best understand it."

She paused, looking seeming less frustrated, before continuing, "Anyway, let's do something, I'm guessing that much of this 'smithry' is broken and needs to be fixed. While others are doing this, let's find out if there's more trouble around. Zorden, Kelaria and I will go with you, Cain can keep watch over Morin, unless he wants to go with us."

Kelaria wondered if that was wise, but she wasn't the expert on this place either, and she wasn't about to say no in any event.  She grunted her asset instead.

Cain nods and takes position at the open doors, keeping an eye on both Morin and the rest of the party.

Morin, still focused on his magical tinkering, could only flash a quick thumbs up to the rest of the party as they went to poke around the unexplored rooms.  He was a little worried about the party continuing to explore without the support of a trained bard, but at least he would be fairly close at hand if needed.

While Morin continues his chanting to repair both the conduit and Zoreden's musket, Kelaria, Zorden, and Ionaya unlock, open, and lock open the door to the east and proceed into the hallway stained with blood--some of it likely Ionaya's own. Cain hangs back, though still at arm's reach, to guard Morin while the others unlock and open the door along the hallway's southern wall. The room revealed is a bit of an oddity; Four narrow stalls take up the south portion of the room, their doors and partitions not quite reaching the tiled floor or ceiling above. A fifth door stands to the west, while a strange metal basin protrudes from the wall immediately to the east of the entrance.

Zorden ducked into the space and quizzically and cautiously opened one of the stall doors.

Behind the stall door is nothing but a single oblong, metal basin, half-full with water and merely a foot and a half off the ground. Behind the basin is a short metal pillar with a single, large button on its side.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:10, Tue 28 May.

"Perhaps this was where their priests bathed in their ritual oils before performing rites."  Kelaria pondered, pointing to one of the weird protruding basins.  "They would fill it with the herbs, oils and flowers, then kneel before it in prayer, spreading it about their bodies, perhaps.  The partitions were ceremonial, to isolate each priest with the spirits."

Zorden lashed out with his tail and slapped the button before taking a step back, just in case.

With the roar of a waterfall probably too loud for what is actually happening, the water in the low basin drains out of a hole in the bottom and out of sight while simultaneously more water rushes in from the rim of the basin. The water drains more quickly than it fills, and after the basin finally empties with a gurgle, the water ceases draining and slowly fills back to half-full before the water flowing in from the rim ceases.

"I don't know about oils, but it certainly looks like a wash basin.  I suppose the water going to... wherever, is more convenient than having to dump it out yourself when you're done."  Zorden speculated about the strange mechanisms.

"Either way, doesn't look like there's much more to see in here."

Zorden checked behind the other doors just to be sure there wasn't anything of note beyond what they'd already seen.

Curiously, Ionaya cautiously made her way towards the lone standing metal basin in the corner of the room. She startled for a moment when the roar of falling water happened in the stall that Zorden had been looking at, but she quickly recovered her composure when it became clear that the rush of water wasn't long or coming out of the stall.

Still being careful, she curiously examined the protruding metal basin, looking for further signs of its purpose.

Cain waits outside for the party to finish exploring the mysterious room. "Anything interesting?"

The basin which draws Ionaya's attention is attached to the wall at waist height, has no standing water like the lower ones in the stalls, and has a grate at its bottom and a spout jutting out above it. As she looks it over, it responds to her proximity and begins to pour a steady stream of water from the spout, into the basin, and down the grate.

Zorden finds each of the stalls contains the same knee-high, half-full basins save for the last. In the final, larger stall at the end of the room there is no basin but a single, sieve-like spout near the ceiling, a grate in the floor, and a dial on the wall between them. Multiple shelves built into the walls of the stall sit empty.

Kelaria took the opportunity to slide her helmet off for a moment as she looked around.  "What a curious people that their temple is free of symbols."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Thu 30 May.

Seeing the flow of water come out of a similar, but much smaller outlet in front of Ionaya, Zorden let the odd stall be rather than confirming his suspicions.

"Perhaps we simply don't recognize them."  He postulated to Kelaria as he stepped back out of the room.

"Lots of water."  He answered Cain's question.

"Coming from who knows where, or conjured by who knows what, and leaving the same way.  Looks and smells clean enough but I still don't think I'd chance drinking it."

Still focused on casting his spell, Morin could only sigh softly as he listened to the rest of the party discuss what they were seeing.  It sounded like an enlightening, almost transcendent discovery.